Malaysia has blocked access to queer dating apps Grindr and Blued as part of an ongoing crackdown on LGBTQ visibility in the Muslim-majority nation, where same-sex acts are criminalized.
The communications ministry said the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC), the nation’s internet regulator, is examining legislative measures to curb the apps, according to the South China Morning Post.
Those plans were outlined in a reply to a parliamentary inquiry from Padang Terap MP Nurul Amin Hamid, who asked whether the MCMC would work with app store providers to block downloads of Grindr, Blued, and Growlr, The Star reported. Hamid claimed the apps had become a primary platform for promoting “deviant” relationships.
The ministry said the MCMC will engage with Google and Apple, which operate the app stores that distribute the apps globally, to prevent Malaysians from downloading or accessing them. To date, the commission has not received any requests to remove Grindr or Blued — the latter of which has been rebranded as HeeSay — from mobile app stores, but it has blocked access to their websites.
“Control over applications on platforms such as Google Play and Apple Store is subject to regulations and policies set by the said platform providers, since both applications are owned by foreign companies operating outside of Malaysia,” the ministry wrote in its reply to Hamid.
“The MCMC too takes action against content or application functions that violate local laws. This includes those that spread lewd or immoral content, exploitation, abuse, scams, exploiting children or threats towards public safety,” the ministry said in a statement.
Information about that content and how it was accessed will be forwarded to law enforcement agencies for further investigation and, potentially, prosecution.
Observers say the effort is part of a broader crackdown aimed at helping the ruling Pakatan Harapan coalition curry favor with socially conservative voters, as the right-wing opposition Perikatan Nasional coalition — which includes the Malaysian Islamic Party — gains popularity.
Same-sex intimacy is prohibited under Malaysia’s colonial-era Federal Penal Code, which criminalizes acts of “carnal knowledge against the order of nature” and “outrages on decency.” Those offenses carry a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, plus whipping. State-enacted Sharia laws also penalize same-sex conduct, subjecting those accused to fines, imprisonment, and corporal punishment, including whipping or caning.
The crackdown on LGBTQ dating apps is likely to leave queer Malaysians — including those who use the apps to connect with others in similar situations, not just for hookups — isolated and fearful of government persecution if they are outed or accused of illegal conduct.
Malaysia has a history of cracking down on LGBTQ visibility and advocacy. In 2023, authorities canceled a music festival in Kuala Lumpur after male members of The 1975 kissed on stage. In 2018, two women were publicly caned and fined for alleged same-sex conduct, and police that same year raided a gay bar to “stop the spread of LGBTQ culture in society.” As recently as last November, authorities arrested 200 men during a raid on a gym and sauna suspected of hosting a male-only sex party.
